Saturday, June 28, 2008

I had the honor of being in St. Cloud's Granite City Days Parade with Steve Gottwalt this evening-- and I would term the affair a rousing success, not so much of all that went well, but because of things that didn't go so well.

Let me explain.

There was a lot of energy at the beginning of the parade route. Although there was a little mist in the air, it was still relatively good parade weather. There were approximately 20 supporters of Steve who were walking the route with him; myself, I had the honor of driving a hot-looking 2006 Pontiac Solstice in the parade. Everything was going great until around half-way in the parade, when all hell let loose weatherwise. It was pouring rain like the dickens; an event that would have led a lesser group of people take cover. But instead of losing energy from a drenching rain, Steve's pace picked up! He was running back and forth in the pouring rain, shaking everyone's hands, smiling, and exuding enough energy to power a medium-sized town for a week. He was in his element, and on his game, and the crowd was cheering him on.

We, those who were walking and riding with Steve, were able to pick up on his energy ourselves. King's wife, Barb, along with littlest Scholar, made up some on-the-spot choreography with the other sign carriers--and all were having a blast!

[I did get a chance to see the DFL portion of the parade, and I believe that Al Franken himself was walking in it (though I can't be sure).. The DFLers actually had a real jack-ass (no kidding) walking with them. And on the top of one of their cars, was a life-sized standing cardboard cutout of "The Messiah" Obama (oh, the rich irony in that)].

Unfortunately, during the rain my Treo 680 got wet, and FUBARed, so I was unable to take pictures. Rest assured, though, I have never seen a campaigner like Steve Gottwalt, and I'm honored to be on his team!

Comes this priceless editorial from the New York Times (I say "priceless," because the words aren't worth the bandwidth they use).

Thirty-thousand Americans are killed by guns every year — on the job, walking to school, at the shopping mall. The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die senselessly with its wrongheaded and dangerous ruling striking down key parts of the District of Columbia’s gun-control law.

And just how has a gun ban made the residents of the District of Columbia any safer? If the ban on D.C. citizens from owning guns was so successful, why is Washington D.C. nearly perenially at the top of the list per capita for violent crimes? If a ban on handguns (outside of being Constitutionally prohibited) is the cat's meow and then some, why has there been a murder spree in Chicago(whose laws are even more restrictive than DC) the likes of which has rarely been seen since Al Capone's heydey in the 1920s?

Just like their fallacious sloganeering about MMGW, the liberals' fallacious sloganeering about the lack of gun control does not stand up to facts.

Why is it that areas with the highest levels of "gun control" also have the highest murder rates (can you say "Washington D.C." and "Chicago"?:

During the first four months of 2008, 134 murders were committed in Chicago. In comparison, according to icasualties.com, a total of 160 Americans were killed in all of Iraq during the same period.

Liberals, of course, in their perpetual view of criminals-as-victim, would rather have the citizens defenseless against those who would do them harm, and then appease and make apologies for the ones who use illegally-obtained guns to commit atrocities.

The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing. A pity that the editorial Board of the New York Times, as well as liberal democrat legislators, don't.

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic senators are skeptical about new efforts by Republicans and the Bush administration to increase offshore drilling, despite a government report by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management showing that there are 139 billion barrels of oil in the United States (onshore and offshore combined).

The estimated oil deposits, which amount to more than the known oil reserves in Iran, Iraq, Russia, Nigeria, or Venezuela, should be largely ignored, according to some Democrats, who instead favor focusing domestic drilling efforts on lands already leased to oil companies.

"Given the 68 million acres of federal land currently under lease to oil companies that they are not exploring, I think they should start there-rather than to consider alternatives which are environmentally sensitive," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) told Cybercast News Service on Wednesday.

What. A. Bunch. Of. Friggen Boneheads.

When you ask an enviro-nutter about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they will no doubt tell you that it is a "pristine wilderness" and will even go so far as to compare it to the Grand Canyon, they will likely show you a picture that looks something like this:When in reality, the area proposed for drilling, which in ANWR is relatively equivalent to the size of a postage stamp on a football field, looks more like this:Face it--democrats are pushing us more and more to what amounts to an economic death train for America that will no doubt usher us into their Utopian vision of our nation being a conglomeration of third-world collectives. They are literally standing in the way of our prosperity while our citizens continue to suffer, in effect, saying, "Let them eat cake."

Where are the Republicans, clamoring out to the Capitol Steps for a news conference to put the kabosh on this nonsense, once and for all??

Amy "Clueless" Klobuchar was on KNSI's Morning Show today, and stated that it was the current situation is the result of oil companies and their refusal to drill on lands already leased for exploration. What "Clueless" failed to mention, was,

A company buys a lease because it believes there is a possibility the lease may yield enough oil or natural gas to justify the cost of the lease. But some leases turn out to be unproductive, API said.

Even where leases are productive, there is a "time-consuming" procedure (obtaining permits, for example) that must be followed before oil production can begin. And finally, if a company does not develop a lease within a certain period of time, it must return it to the federal government, forfeiting all its costs, API noted.

"Because a lease is not producing, critics say it is 'idle' when, in reality, much more often than not, it is being actively explored and developed," API wrote to lawmakers. (See letter)

The democrats (and their willing RINO counterparts) are continuing on this road to hell at their own peril. There is no doubt a critical mass of people, of both the left and the right sides of the political spectrum, who are beginning to shout, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" when they literally have to choose between filling their vehicle with gas and making a payment on their kids' braces.

There will be, nay, must be, a price exacted for their arrogance come November.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I'm going to be out and about again today, and I'll be doing a ride-along with a friend of mine who's a cop. Should prove for an interesting day.

BTW--gas prices here in the Chicago area are hovering at around $4.25 per gallon (I probably wouldn't have been able to afford this trip if I didn't have my motorcycle); I'm wondering if Illinoisans' good will toward their favorite son diminishes somewhat as they hear him say things like this:

Friday, June 20, 2008

Darryl R. Sharratt, father of Haditha Marine Justin Sharratt, has given his take on the Haditha nightmare, the effects it had on Justin, his family, and the other Marines involved in what will undoubtedly be one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in military history.

According to our Republican representatives, we have the ability to extract 1.3 trillion barrels of oil from shale reserves; not to mention the millions of barrels of oil that we can extract from ANWR and the Continental Shelf.

They responded to criticisms leveled from the democrat side that if Nancy Pelosi was to bring a bill by July 4th, it still wouldn't be a fix , since it would take ten years to retrieve the supply.

But they explained there is a significant upward pressure in the prices due to the current market and conditions, with the knowledge that the U.S. won't pursue its own supplies. An opening of those resources will send a signal that we are going to join oil producing nations, and will send a message to speculators that will result in an immediate decrease on the upward pressure on prices.

We've got the technology and the ability to explore in the deep waters off the coast and to do it in an environmentally safe way.

When the point was brought out to the Representatives of the fact that the majority party in congress is beholden to the interests of the extreme environmental lobby, they were nontheless optimistic that the democrats would eventually see the light and serve their larger constituencies.

During the conference call, the contingent of U.S. Representatives stated that they were honored to be communicating their policy to bloggers, and stated that bloggers were a driving force in the energy conversation; and that emails and letters come to their office from constituents who had read about the issues on blogs. Michele Bachmann stated that she is grateful to the blogosphere for the continual end-around that they perform around the agenda media in getting the facts out. Congressman Bachmann stated that she hoped to have similar events slated in the near future.

Truth be told, the democrats and the extreme environmentalist lobby are the only things standing in the way of our ability to move past economic stagflation and on toward the promise of true prosperity. The current condition of our economy and our current energy woes are inextricably linked, and blame for our sorry state of affairs can be placed directly at their feet.

We are in the midst of an increasing clamor in our nation over the undue pain caused by high fuel prices, and the extreme environmental lobby and their willing democrat (and RINO) accomplices will need to answer to an increasingly frustrated constituency; either now, or at the ballot box in November.

The Murtha-inspired, media trumped so-called "Haditha Massacre" has had its share of casualties long after the event had transpired. Eight Marines, whose only crime was to follow Rules of Engagement (ROE) and to execute their mission of weeding out terrorist elements in the town of Haditha, have had their reputations and their honor dragged through the mud, not to mention having had the "honor" of treatment that would make Guantanamo detainees look like they're being put up at the Waldorf Astoria by comparison.

On Tuesday, Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom, USMC made the right decision when he saw through the undue command influence and dismissed all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani without prejudice.

Said Richard Thompson, resident and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, who has been defending Chessani,

“This case has turned into the persecution of one of the Marine’s finest combat commanders.LtCol Chessani devoted his life to the Corps and his Nation.He served three tours of duty in Iraq, away from his wife and children in defense of us all. In their attempt ‘to get’ Chessani, prosecutors granted immunity to seventeen Marines, including one they had charged with murder.Still they failed.Sadly, in the process they have destroyed the career of an outstanding officer.Enough is enough.”

WND just had a story published today that Chessani rightfully planned to sue Congressman John Murtha over his slanderous pronouncement of the Haditha Marines guilt of murder in cold blood. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there is more "undue influence" coming from Murtha to pressure prosecutors to make an example out of Chessani. Murtha, after all, is in charge of defense appropriations in the House and is certainly in a position to exert such influence. Given Murtha's long history of what was, in my opinion, influence peddling in the form of a legion of earmarks and defense contracts, there is in my opinion nothing too low for the King of Pork to resort to save his sorry fat backside from the consequences of his actions.

The military powers that be, along with the politicians that be, know that the Haditha prosecutions will be considered by historians as one of the largest travesties of justice in military history; a time when the interests of politicians and military leaders were put far ahead of the interests of justice itself. Their pitiful attempts to continue to prop up a false set of charges against one of the great military leaders in the Corps as a means of salvaging face serves neither the honor of the military nor the interests of justice.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Capt. Jamie Riddle(Left) and an Iraqi Flight Instructor School student walk to the flightline before a recent mission at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. The Iraqi air force recently established the school for Iraqi pilots. Captain Riddle is an instructor pilot with the 52nd Flying Training Squadron

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Maxine Waters meant what she said. And there are enough sheeple in the U.S. to make her dream of nationalizing the oil industry a definite possibility, if not quite yet a reality.

When the People's World Weekly starts mirroring the sentiments of 47 percent of the American electorate; yes, these same capitalistic United States founded on economic freedom, something is seriously wrong.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Why won't these arsewholes just go away? The gig is up. You're trying to sell a bill of goods, and no one's buying.

Dion to promise that carbon tax won't increase price at pumps

JANE TABER

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

June 17, 2008 at 8:07 PM EDT

OTTAWA — Stéphane Dion will make a “solid promise” Thursday that his new carbon-tax plan will not include an increase at the pumps, a source says.

The long-awaited “green shift plan” would be revenue neutral and deliver “substantive” tax cuts to Canadian families, the source said.

On Tuesday, Liberal caucus members were told that their weekly Wednesday caucus meeting had been rescheduled to Thursday. The source said the change was made to prevent leaks to the media before Mr. Dion announces his plan.

It is believed he will explain his proposal in detail to his caucus Thursday morning and then to the public in the afternoon.

As expected, charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani have been dropped in the Haditha case, leaving only one marine with pending charges, Sgt. Frank Wuterich.

This has been a kangaroo court from the get-go, predicated on a story from Time Magazine whose source was an insurgent. Representative John Murtha (D., Pa-12), seeing a chance to get himself in the spotlight so as to fulfill his ambitions to be appointed House Majority Leader, latched on to the story like a monkey with a hand in a cookie jar, and bloviated on national TV, saying he had his information from "the highest level." This of course, was untrue, since Murtha went on Charlie Gibson before he was given any official military briefing on the matter, and came out and virtually convicted Haditha marines of cold blooded murder:

There was no coverup. There was no "massacre." Everything Murtha said in the Gibson interview was proven to be a complete set of falsehoods.

The day is coming when Congressman John P. Murtha will have to answer for his reckless accusations made in the name of his own sorry political gain, that destroyed the lives of 8 Marines, who were fighting for their very lives in Haditha, and had to continue fighting for their lives upon their stateside return.

John Murtha's days of being the political boss of PA-12, the House Appropriations Committee on Defense, and other positions of largesse and prestige are numbered.

John Murtha has utilized the excuse that "the investigation is ongoing" as a means for cover from his having to answer for his actions.

I hold John Murtha personally responsible for laying a dubious cover of deceit under which the Democrat party was able to engage its anti-war, anti-troop, and anti-American pogrom, under which our enemies in Iraq and elsewhere became emboldened to carry on the fight much longer than they otherwise would have; in the process, killing more and more of our American and allied women and men than would have otherwise been the case.

Yes, it is my opinion that John Murtha has blood on his hands, and needs to answer for his misdeeds.

As the founding editor of this blog, I call on Congress to investigate John Murtha on exactly what he "knew" and when he "knew it" before coming out with his Haditha accusations and declarations of and implications of guilt. I call on Congress to investigate John Murtha of ethics violations and criminal charges in denying the Haditha Marines their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to the presumption of innocence, and to censure and strip Murtha of any committee assignments, and in turn demand his resignation from Congress.

My dear readers, as is evident by Murtha's long history of corruption, and now his foray into slander of innocents for political gain, it is more apparent than ever that now is the time that MURTHA MUST GO!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The list of marines exonerated from the Haditha incident continues to grow; and the space in which Jihad Jack Murtha can hide his big fat backside before being forced to make an apology grows slimmer and slimmer:

A military judge who has heard days of arguments over motions in the case against a Marine officer charged criminally after U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., publicly accused service members of being murderers abruptly has changed a hearing that had been scheduled for three days to one hour.

It was just days earlier when WND reported that a military jury of seven officers had acquitted Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of all charges stemming from the same incident.

So, when's it gonna be, Jihad Jack? When are you going to take responsibility for playing judge, jury, and executioner to a group of Marines whose only crime it was to follow ROE and execute their mission?

When are you going to take back those words; words made recklessly to advance your own sorry political career; words that needlessly ruined the lives of valiant Marines defending our nation?

Host Derek Brigham reads the Mayoral proclamation typed from the nimble fingers of King Banaian himself.

***UPDATE****

Text of proclamation:

WHEREAS it is only by fathers that we come into this world;

AND WHEREAS fathers have given us many positive influences, includinglove of baseball, guns, good movies, and the occasional cigar;

AND WHEREAS several of us have managed to become fathers, many of usstill wondering how that happened;

AND WHEREAS the act of blogging has not decreased our desire to be goodfathers, even if it means blogging at 3 AM while watching the thirdrerun of the insufferable O'Reilly;

THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Minnesota Organization of Blogsrecognizes Father's Day as a time for impressing on fathers theirobligation to children,

AND LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that all children of MOB members underage 4 should be posed with beer, the official drink of MOBsters (asdetermined and in the example to be followed by Learned Foot);

AND LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that all children will sing hosannas tothe finely shaped, hairless skull of Teh Fohrma Mare Andy Aplikowski;

AND LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that all fathers who blog within the MOBwill have their children type a blog message on Sunday, June 15 titled"Why We Love the MOB and its Great Mayor" (with spellchecking turned OFF);

AND LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that fathers will grill many fine meatsand cheeses for their families, taking pictures thereof and posting saidpictures on their blogs on Monday, in posts to be titled "How A MOBstercelebrates Father's Day."

ALL WHO DISOBEY THIS DECREE will be considered MOB Member inQuestionable Standing or must play the MiLF with a five-stroke penalty.

DECREED on this, the Fourteenth Day of June, in the Year of our Lord TwoThousand and Eight.

Kit Lange has been tirelessly investigating the circumstances surrounding the Pendleton 8 Marines; young brave men who have been held in solitary confinement, in chains, and treated much like animals during their incarceration in conditions that make Guantanamo Bay look like a summer camp; for what appears to be trumped up charges.

Please go there, where Kit presents hard evidence that there was undue command influence in the prosecution. Links are in the post that give the entire background of the case, as well.

These men deserve more. I call on Congress to open an investigation into the proceedings of what amounts to a kangaroo court. These men, like the Haditha Marines, put their lives on the line to defend the Constitution of the United States, and are ironically summarily denied those same protections that they had sworn to defend.

BLENCOE, Iowa - A tornado slammed a Boy Scout camp in the remote hills of western Iowa late Wednesday, killing at least four people, injuring 40 and setting off a frantic search for others who could be trapped in the piles of debris and downed trees.

A search and rescue team has been deployed to the camp near Little Sioux, Iowa Homeland Security spokeswoman Julie Tack said. She said the camp was covered with debris and downed trees after the tornado hit about 7 p.m.

Some victims might be trapped under debris, Tack said.

"We are still receiving information and we're processing it as we receive it," she said.

There were 93 campers and 25 staff members at the camp, Tack said. The campers were between 13 and 18 years old and were attending a leadership training camp.

"They were considered some of the best in the area," Tack said.

At least 40 people who were injured in the storm were being taken to area hospitals.

I used to take my boys tent camping to Many Point Scout Camp for a week every year, and we were at the mercy of the elements. Nary a week would go by when we weren't caught up in a severe thunderstorm; and one year there was a funnel cloud that passed overhead. I can only imagine the horror in Iowa when a tornado actually touched down.

Please say prayers for the dead, the injured, the shaken and their families.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

As you remember, I posted stories regarding St. Cloud's very own superman here, and here(more here) Well, the other day I was tooling around town on my Virago and passed the intersection of 25th and Division street, right by the Dairy Queen. Instead of seeing the venerable St. Cloud Superman, I saw a new character, sitting on a Coleman folding chair, with a fishing pole, and dressed up kinda like this:

Well, I had to check this out. So I parked my motorcycle at the DQ, got a frozen hot chocolate, approached the guy, and asked him, "What gives with the new get-up?"

He assured me that he was doing it just to "keep people guessing." He related that to dress up like a pimp was the antithesis of Superman. He added that he was all about freedom and freedom of expression.

Of course, during the conversation John Filla was his old congenial self, and graciously accepted when I asked him to pose for the picture above.

I don't know--I gotta kinda hand it to a guy who's not afraid to be "out there" and to make a statement.

SPC. Jeffery A. Williams was killed in action when an IED was detonated near his combat patrol in Tal Afar, Iraq.

Your time with us was far too shortDealing with your loss will be hard,When I think about what this world has lostI want to just shut out the world and cry,But I will not do that.Because you gave your life for something much greater than you or ISo, I will remember you as the Hero that you areAnd never let what you did in your life cut short be forgottenAnd that is the best way I know to honor you

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

In a story rich with irony the Senate, led by Democrat Dianne Feinstein, has voted to privatize its restaurants and food services. The House privatized twenty years ago. The result? Sort of like East and West Berlin.

In a masterful bit of understatement, Feinstein blamed [millions of dollars in losses] on "noticeably subpar" food and service. Foot traffic bears that out. Come lunchtime, many Senate staffers trudge across the Capitol and down into the basement cafeteria on the House side. On Wednesdays, the lines can be 30 or 40 people long.

House staffers almost never cross the Capitol to eat in the Senate cafeterias.

Naturally some of Feinstein's colleagues were not pleased.

In a closed-door meeting with Democrats in November, she was practically heckled by her peers for suggesting it, senators and aides said.

"I know what happens with privatization. Workers lose jobs, and the next generation of workers make less in wages. These are some of the lowest-paid workers in our country, and I want to help them," Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a staunch labor union ally, said recently.

1. So Brown wants to "help them"--those poor unfortunates, by keeping them in a dead-end job, slinging hash in gubmint eatery?

2. The Senate can't even run a two-bit restaurant on their own Capitol grounds. How the hell do they expect to deliver promises on a gubmint' run health care system??

10:15am I'm currently on a call with one of our very few dependable conservative voices in our U.S. Congress, Michele Bachmann. She's hosting a question/answer session with constituents.

According to Bachmann, despite the fact that we didn't sign Kyoto, we are the only country in the world (including Kyoto signatories) who saw our emissions go down, even though we weren't a signatory in Kyoto.

Lakes & streams are cleaner now than they have been in the last 20 years.

A caller got on and complained that Republicans, including Norm Coleman, need to get on board in pursuing our own energy resources. He argued rightly, that the solution to our energy problems consists of drilling and building refineries, and to build nuclear power plants.

According to Michele,

-If ANWR was a football field, the relative area needed for drilling would be the size of a postage stamp.

-ANWR would add more than 1 million barrels of oil per day, which would be a doubling of our national production.

-With the oil find in the Dakotas, Minnesota would do well to build refineries, which would create high paying jobs and would also lessen the cost of fuels.

-Congress has been the problem, and we need to get both Republicans & democrats aboard to make it legal to obtain our own energy sources.

-We are 7% more dependent on OPEC than we were just a year ago.

Caller: What are we going to do about the elderly? Mother and father died in a nursing home, both were victims of neglect; can't get government to respond. Japan honors their elderly; why can't we do the same?

Michele: Nursing home care is more a state issue vs. a federal issue; not all nursing homes are created equal; shouldn't matter whether a person is rich or poor, every0ne deserves respect and care, especially during the most vulnerable stages of life. If you see medicare fraud, 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477), also, her office staff in Waite Park are great case workers who will assist with individual cases.

10:45a

Unfortunately, I need to leave for an appointment, so this live blog is over.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

I had mixed feelings when I heard about the defeat of the democrat-led attempted confiscation of wealth that was the Senate "windfall profits" tax on "Big Greedy Oil" today.

I was at once relieved at the news, but a feeling of trepidation came over me as I looked at the link to the roll call of Senate votes. Expecting the worst, given Senator Norm Coleman's leanings as of late, I fully (and sadly) expected to see the name Norm Coleman once again aligned with the fever swamp democrats, voting to confiscate the "obscene profits" of the oil robber barons, thus getting even wid da man!

When I went to the site, I put my hands over my eyes, as I peered through parted fingers..afraid of what I might see. When I finally gathered the courage to risk further disappointment in our senior Republican senator, what I did see brought a smile of sweet relief to my face. Norm Coleman actually voted with the Conservatives this time to kill the bill!!!!

While this was a sweet sense of relief, at the same time I couldn't help but feel a continuing sense of frustration. If you actually have to think twice and wince every time your "Republican" Senator casts a vote on a socialist measure to confiscate profits, or to further hamper our nation's attempts toward energy independence, you necessarily have some trust issues.

However, I anxiously await to be similarly surprised in future votes.

C'mon, Norm... surprise me more!

***UPDATE & CORRECTION****

I guess I was wrong about Norm, in a way. The article I read regarding the votes led me to the "cloture" vote, I made the same mistake as did John Hinderaker at Powerline (at least I'm in good company).

Norm did vote with the democrats when it counted on this one. Even Harry Reid had the sense to vote no on this one.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment gave the federal government formal notice Monday that they will sue under the Endangered Species Act to protect the bears, which were listed as threatened last month by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

Polar bears are threatened -- likely to become endangered -- because their sea ice habitat has melted dramatically and computer models predict further losses, Kempthorne said. Polar bears use sea ice for mating, denning and hunting.

Kempthorne said the best scientific judgments did not conclude that polar bears were threatened by oil and gas development.

The conservation groups do not agree.

Well, surprise, surprise, surprise!

The dirty little secret is that this has absolutely nothing to do with polar bears, or even the environment. The dirty little secret is that these pseudo-crises are manufactured by a bee-hive of pointy-headed, neosocialist, self-loathing morons who would like nothing better than and will not rest until the United States is reduced to a third world collective hellhole.

To even entertain complaints by these morons is a waste of time and money, not to mention a danger to our environment; and I'm sick and tired of these self-loathing, self-righteous, smarmy morons being given a front-seat to the interests of Americans whose only crime is to live by the rules and to try to provide for their families.

Washington (AP) - With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, Senate Democrats want the government to grab some of the billions of dollars in profits being taken in by the major oil companies.

Senators were to vote Tuesday on whether to consider a windfall profits tax against the five largest U.S. oil companies and rescind $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade.

"The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 3 Democrat, warning that if energy prices are not reined in "we're going to find ourselves in a deep recession."

And just how the hell is taxing the living hell out of oil companies going to put one more drop of oil or one more BTU into this economy, Senator Durbin?!?

Get off your lazy, good-for-nothing phat backsides and quit blocking domestic energy exploration and access! Address the problem instead of your default position of taxing everything into oblivion!

If brains were gas, you dolts on the democrat side couldn't power a piss-ant's car half way around a bee-bee. Too bad we couldn't convert ignorance into energy; then at least you ne'erdowells would be good for something.

(CNSNews.com) - "The United States has an opportunity to help increase the supply of oil on the market," thereby easing gasoline prices for hard-working Americans," President Bush said on Monday.

He reminded Congress that he has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Continental Shelf to domestic oil drilling -- something that would "help us through this difficult period."

You almost had, it, Mr. President. If you had pushed harder on what you proposed earlier in your presidency, we would be nearing the end of this mess in which we find ourselves, or at the very least we'd be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. But after the usual suspects of enviro-whackos, along with their willing shills in Congress did their normal routine of wailing and gnashing of teeth, instead of holding your ground on the matter, you backed off. Rather than rallying the American people to the need for harvesting our own domestic energy reserves, you instead took a page from the Eisenhower playbook and played golf with regard to the issue. You even went so far as to play right into the envirowhackos hands, simultaneously increasing the credibility of their argument while weakening yours.

And you almost had it today, Mr. President. You almost had it on the nuts.

But then you went and said this:

"We remind our friends and allies overseas that we're all too dependent on hydrocarbons, and we must work to advance tech that help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons," Bush said on Monday as he headed out to Europe.

One step forward, three steps back.

Mr. President, now's not the time to humor the delusional fancies of the crazy uncles in the attic making life a living hell for the rest of the family. You're damned right we're"addicted" to oil; in much the same manner as we're "addicted" to air and to food. So what? We've got plenty of it if our legislators would finally quit kowtowing to the crazy uncles in the enviro-whacko movement and act in the interests of the American people for a change.

We have the technology to harvest our own resources in a way that minimally disrupts the surrounding environment; in many cases augmenting it.

Mr. President, you have a nation that's bleeding from the ears economically, and you have it within the scope of your office to issue executive orders to stop that bleeding. May I add that, given that we're in the midst of an economic emergency, and given that our nation's economic security is at risk, it would not be a misuse of your power under executive authority to do so.

And what greater a presidential legacy to leave your fellow Americans, than to decrease their dependence on foreign oil?

I took a motorcycle ride to a graduation party from St. Cloud, to Chippewa Falls, WI (around 160 miles)...

It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky when I departed...

Even though there were some darker clouds as I moved through Wisconsin, not a drop of rain...(riding through Spring Valley & Dunn County was awesome--strikingly beautiful)...

Anyway, I stayed at the party for an hour and a half, and I began my trek back home.

At first, there were storm clouds to the left of me, and storm clouds to the right of me... (It felt like I was in the middle of the Charge of the Light Brigade)....I thought I was going to ride through the mess with nary a scrape.

Not so fast... When I drove back through Spring Valley, I stopped at a convenience store... I heard a few claps of distant thunder.. but I still held hope that my luck would hold.

I rode on through a winding country road, and finally, I heard little pitter patters hit my helmet...upon looking ahead of me about a mile or so, I saw what from that distance appeared to be a heavy fog, but I knew better that it was a downpour; then I looked above me and saw a greenish tinge to the clouds overhead, and knew the telltale sign of hail...

Just as it started to get heavy, I happened upon a small country store with an overhead canopy, and made it there just in time when a flurry of three-quarter inch hailstones began making their way to the ground. Another biker was there, who made a call ahead to his home in Ellsworth, about ten miles west, who said it had cleared up.

After the storm had let up quite a bit, and there was just a little bit more than a drizzle, I continued on my trek, thinking that Mother Nature just needed a good belch, and that would be that, and that my good fortune in keep out of challenging weather would continue.

Boy, was I wrong.

I rode through deluge after deluge of downpours and pea-sized hail. It felt like I was riding through Niagara Falls with a mixture of pebbles falling down with the water! After riding in and out of a series of six storm cells, I finally thought I was out of it when I crossed the border into Minnesota and stopped to fill up.

Wrong again.

I rode through another three episodes of torrents of rain, thunder and lightning through Anoka, MN on Hwy 10; by that time I didn't care. I was so wet, the only thing I was missing was a bar of soap (I thought about shampoo, but at least my full-face helmet kept my head relatively dry). When I was getting toward Elk River, I saw an awesome sight up ahead in the distance--a clearing sky! And I was riding right toward it. Halleluia!!! But then Highway 10 took a bend right there, and was leading me headlong--you guessed it--into another storm. At this point, I said, what the heck! I was a man on a mission to get home. I screamed defiance as I rode through yet another downpour, screaming, "Is this all you got?!? Come on!!" Finally, I rode through the last of the downpours as I headed into Big Lake, with another 40 miles to go, and I finally headed into the safe harbor of a clearing in the sky. By this time, the cold front had passed, and temps got down into the low 60s. I really thought I would dry out, I mean with driving 65-70 mph, you'd think it would have kind of a blow dryer effect.

Again, I was proven wrong.

By the time I got home, I was stiff, sore, and I couldn't be wetter and colder if I had plunged myself into Lake Superior. I took off my boots, and poured out over a cup of water from each.

All in all a good ride!

BTW--anyone have any suggestions on how to quickly dry out rain-soaked leather boots?

Saturday, June 07, 2008

A couple of sticking points (i.e., buying into the global warming meme, universal health care), but in toto a lot of ideas that are head and shoulders above the three stooges that are running for POTUS.

TOKYO - The world needs to invest $45 trillionin energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.

It appears Minnesota Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark is a little upset over the fact that I brought her feelings regarding nursing home funding to your attention. She says I’m “misleading” you, “distorting the record,” and “muddying the waters.”

Actually, what I gave you was her direct quote — “nursing homes don’t really count” in their (the Senate DFL) definition of health care.

You can’t get any more crystal clear than that. These words come from one of the most powerful people in the Legislature (second in command in the Minnesota Senate), which is why I was extremely disappointed in her comments. I’ve spoken to Senator Vickerman on this topic and he agrees with me on the need to help our nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

BTW, Rep. Hamilton, if you're looking for any more Tarryl Clark Zingers, we got a million of 'em!

I guess we should not be surprised that Ms. Clark would treat eldercare as a burden. After all, look from whence she and others of her ilk come. The very same party that treats vulnerable developing humans as "burdens;" dare I say, "punishments."

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — A court martial has acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair.

Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28.

Grayson had been charged with making false statements and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps. He was also charged with obstruction of justice, but the military judge dismissed this charge Tuesday.

I phoned Jack Murtha's office this morning promptly at 8am (EDT) to ask if there would be a forthcoming retraction or apology, but the staffer who answered the phone call appeared clueless about Haditha, much less whether Jihad Jack would issue an apology.

Today's news harkens back to the gasbag's pronouncement of guilt that fateful day of May, 2006, without any official briefing, all to advance his own sorry political career:

Notice when Murtha proclaimed, "I know there was a coverup someplace."

Notice that Murtha said, "The commandant didn't say it was murder, but what was it?"

(It was called following Rules of Engagement (ROE), Congressman).

Notice when Murtha said to Charlie Gibson, "Don't make excuses for the military!"

But also notice that when Murtha is called to task and is called to account, he always has excuses for himself:

Although a dunce, at least Emily Litella had the humility to admit she was wrong.

The list of Marines waiting to be exonerated in the Haditha case grows slimmer and slimmer.

Will Jihad Jack Murtha, a veteran Marine, have the honor to admit he was wrong, apologize, resign, and/or make reparations to the Marines whose lives were ruined as a result of his political ambitions run amok?

It would be advisable not to hold one's breath in anticipation of the answer to that question.

Policy based on failed and unproven science is unconscionable, especially in an age when Americans are being taxed more and more on their freedom of mobility.

Know this: To base policy on events in which man has no power nor bearing is a death-wish to our economic future, not to mention our national security. Our best, most prosperous days must be in front of us, not behind us.

Please stop this insanity, and vote against the Warner-Lieberman Cap and Trade bill.

This was ostensibly a more "sensitive menu" than was feasted upon at a similar summit in 2002, which featured

2002 menu

Foie gras and toast with kiwi fruitLobster in vinaigretteFillet of goose with olivesSeasonal vegetablesCompote of fruit with vanillaVins multiple fine wines

Said one U.N. scumbag, (emphases added)

“It does not look good if leaders discussing global starvation are seen to be dining lavishly,” an FAO official said. “At the last summit in 2002 we did not give enough thought to the menu and were open - unfairly, in our view - to the charge of hypocrisy.

"Unfairly"???

Time to shut the door permanently on these bozos and instead form an alliance of free nations, whose mission it would be to spread freedom and capitalism around the world, and to free the world of self-serving, tinhorn dictator thugs.

I can guarantee you that if that mission was accomplished, poverty and hunger would vanish in less than a generation.